Staff of the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC) began developing the traditional National Survey of Households (ENAHO) today to again measure the levels of poverty and inequality in Costa Rica.
For a month, 188 officials will visit 13,500 homes in order to understand the national socioeconomic reality and assist the Government in developing and formulating their public policies to help the needy.
The ENAHO determines key aspects, such as the living conditions of the people, their income situation of poverty, inequality, and access to goods and services, education, social programs, and social security.
The survey also investigates labor force participation and household consumption expenditure, which this year will be implemented through a special module of questions.
This year, questions on child and adolescent labor will also be included to analyze trends on the aspect.
The survey will cost the INEC 540 million colones, approximately 40,000 colones on average per household visited.
The institution respectfully calls on people to cooperate with the interviewers and meet their consultations. They shall be properly identified as officials of INEC.
The results of the study will be disclosed in October 2016.
The results of the National Household Survey of 2015:
- Last year’s survey reported an overall poverty rate of 21.7%, or more than 1.1 million people. This statistic is slightly lower than the 22.4% reported in 2014
- Extreme poverty was at 7.2%, the highest recorded rate in the last six years
- Income for rural families was up 4.1% (to an average of $1,285), but urban families saw a 1.2% decrease in income (to an average of $2,100)
- The GINI coefficient, which measures inequality, remained steady at 0.516 overall but rose in rural areas over the past year, indicating a wider income gap
- Public assistance to poor families increased by 9.3% per household on average and 6.9% per person
Source: elmundo.cr